Featured Research

Consuming probiotics for a month helps diminish fat accumulation in the liver, according to a new study

Date:

July 18, 2014

Source:

University of Granada

Summary:

Scientists have demonstrated through an experiment on obese rats that the consumption of probiotics for thirty days helps diminish the accumulation of fat in the liver. This new findingis a step forward on the fight against Non-Alcolohic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), which is closely related to obesity and diabetes.

Share This

Spanish scientists have demonstrated through an experiment on obese rats that the consumption of probiotics for thirty days helps diminish the accumulation of fat in the liver. This new finding, recently published by the journal PLOS ONE, is a step forward on the fight against Non-Alcolohic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), which is closely related to obesity and diabetes.

Related Articles

Researchers from the 'Nutrition Biochemistry: Theurapetic Applications' group (CTS-461) and the José Mataix Institute for Nutrition and Food Technology at the University of Granada have demonstrated that the administration of three probiotic strains diminishes the accumulation of fat in the liver of obese rats.

The accumulation of fat in the liver is called steatosis and it constitutes the first stage in the NAFLD disease, which is closely related to obesity and diabetes. Given that the prevalence of these two pathologies, NAFLD has also become a health problem that affects millions of people throughout the world.

Living or dead microorganisms

Probiotics are microorganisms (bacteria or yeasts) with healthy effects upon individuals that consume them in adequate doses. They were traditionally considered to be living microorganisms, but the concept was widened since some dead microorganisms, or even their components, can display probiotic properties.

University of Granada researchers worked with three strains from the Collection Nationale de Cultures de Microorganismes (CNCM) of the Pasteur Institute: Lactobacillus paracasei CNCM I-4034, Bifidobacterium breve CNCM I-4035 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus CNCM I-4036. During their first experiment, conducted on healthy volunteers, researchers demonstrated that all three of them are tolerable and safe for human consumption.

In this current study, the strains were administered during thirty days in the diet of Zucker rats. These rats develop obesity due to a mutation in the gene that codifies the receptor or leptin, a homone that transmits a sensation of satiety to the organism. Zucker rats are among the best characterized genetic models.

In their article, the authors describe that the administration of probiotics led to an accumulation of lipids (most of them triacylglycerides) in the liver which was significantly lower than that occurring in rats fed with a placebo.

"This new finding went hand in hand with lower values in proinflamatory molecules (tumor-a necrosis factor, interleukin 6 and liposacarid) in the serum of rats fed with probiotics.

According to these researchers, this liver disease will not be cured with probiotics, but these microorganisms can certainly be used as support therapy in joint use with other treatments.

University of Granada. "Consuming probiotics for a month helps diminish fat accumulation in the liver, according to a new study." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 18 July 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140718095645.htm>.

University of Granada. (2014, July 18). Consuming probiotics for a month helps diminish fat accumulation in the liver, according to a new study. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 3, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140718095645.htm

University of Granada. "Consuming probiotics for a month helps diminish fat accumulation in the liver, according to a new study." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140718095645.htm (accessed March 3, 2015).

More From ScienceDaily

More Health & Medicine News

Featured Research

Mar. 3, 2015  Why do people shake hands? A new study suggests one of the reasons for this ancient custom may be to check out each other's odors. Even if we are not consciously aware of this, handshaking may ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015  Doctors write millions of prescriptions a year for drugs to calm the behavior of people with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. But non-drug approaches actually work better, and carry ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015  Briefly counseling college students on the dangers of binge drinking is effective in lowering heavy drinking levels among many students, but only temporarily. Three out of four will be right back ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015  Body mass index in healthy adolescents has a statistically significant association with both systolic blood pressures and diastolic blood pressures, research shows, and it highlights the significance ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015  Loneliness brought about by the death of a spouse can trigger a wider network of depression-like symptoms, a study has found, but authors suggest that doctors are often too quick to attribute these ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015  Family Based Interpersonal Psychotherapy (FB-IPT) is more effective in treating preadolescent children with depression compared to child-centered therapy (CCT), a recent study has found. ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015  Two of the four known groups of human AIDS viruses (HIV-1 groups O and P) have originated in western lowland gorillas, according to new research. The scientists conducted a comprehensive survey of ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015  Scientists have succeeded in producing cartilage formed from embryonic stem cells that could in future be used to treat the painful joint condition osteoarthritis. With their huge capacity to ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015  Everyone worries about losing their memory as they grow older—memory loss remains one of the most common complaints of the elderly. But the molecular reasons behind the processes remain unclear, ... full story

Featured Videos

Mom Triumphs Over Tragedy, Helps Other Families

AP (Mar. 3, 2015)  After her son, Dax, died from a rare form of leukemia, Julie Locke decided to give back to the doctors at St. Jude Children&apos;s Research Hospital who tried to save his life. She raised $1.6M to help other patients and their families. (March 3)
Video provided by AP

Woman Convicted of Poisoning Son

AP (Mar. 3, 2015)  A woman who blogged for years about her son&apos;s constant health woes was convicted Monday of poisoning him to death by force-feeding heavy concentrations of sodium through his stomach tube. (March 3)
Video provided by AP

Related Stories

July 19, 2014  In a preliminary study, HIV-infected patients with excess abdominal fat who received the growth hormone-releasing hormone analog tesamorelin for 6 months experienced modest reductions in liver fat, ... full story

May 6, 2014  Snacking on high-fat and high-sugar foods was independently associated with abdominal fat and fatty liver (hepatic steatosis) research has shown. According to the study, hypercaloric diet with ... full story

Apr. 22, 2012  Soy protein could significantly reduce fat accumulation and triglycerides in the livers of obese patients by partially restoring the function of a key signaling pathway in the organ, according to new ... full story

Apr. 2, 2011  According to new data the United States could soon be faced with an epidemic of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, one of the major contributing factors of chronic liver disease, considered as one of ... full story

ScienceDaily features breaking news and videos about the latest discoveries in health, technology, the environment, and more -- from major news services and leading universities, scientific journals, and research organizations.